Building construction



Jan. 17, 1933. A. c. ZIMMERMAN BUILDING- CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 23. 1929 v INVENTOR: v Alt/58 6 azl'miflei'man,

UNITE sraras PATENT OFFICE ARCHIE C. ZIMMERMA1\T, 01 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Application filed August 23, 1929. Serial No. 387,886.

This invention relates to building constructions, and more particularly to build ngs of the aircraft depot type. V I

It has been found diificult to properly direct passengers on annair' field to. proper transport planes without fear of endangering the lives of the passengers. -Also, it has been found that where more than one transportplane is to leave on a given schedule,

that each transport plane must'Wait until it is properly loaded andhas taken off before the second transport plane can be loaded. The same applies to planes arrlving upon an r air field.

The present invention has to do with a depot structure which-is so arranged as to permit planes to be loaded and unloaded without in any manner interfering with one another, to the end that onepla-ne can be loading or several planes may be loading at the same time, while other planes are unloading and without any interference be.- tween the planes. Planes may take off at the same time after loaded or in accordance with the usual practice after a certain duration of time. Such astructure will tend toward fewer accidents, more economical maintenance, relief of anxiety of passengers and prevent passengers from in any manner contacting with movable parts of the transport.

plane, such as the propellers.

In practicing the invention, I have provided a central concourse having radial tunnels extending therefrom. These tunnels are so arranged that transport planes may be brought in close proximity thereto, the transport planes being arranged in tangential relation to the radial tunnels, to the end that a each transport plane can approach the tunnel; or leave the tunnel at'a. tangent and thus avoid any plane at a following or adjacent.

tunnel.

With theabove and other objectsin View, the invent on consists in the novel and useful 1 arrangement of various elements and features of the invention as shown'in th drawing and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing: Figurel illustrates a depot in horizontal adopted for railroad stations.

section with transport planes grouped thereabout, 1 I a Figure 2 is a vertical section of the proposed form of depot, and, I 1 Figure 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2. Referring to the drawing, I may provide a central or main depot (not shown), which connects with a tunnel a'beneath the ground surface, which is indicated as b. This tunnel is provided for incoming and outgoing passengers and baggage and may be sub-divided for this purpose, in a manner universally This tunnel connects with 'a ramp 1 which communicates with the vdepot 0. This so-called depot includes a central compartment 2, the wall bounding which is continuous and may be of any form desired such as pentagonal or circular in accordance with necessity. The wall in Figure 1 is pentagonal, although as stated, any shape of wall may be provided.v The chamber 2 would betermed a concourse and the tunnel a leads directly to this concourse. Extending from this concourse are one or more members Z. These members are termed tunnels and aroused for ingress and egress of passengers and baggage from planes, such as illustrated at 6. These tunnels include top walls 3 supported by side Walls 4 which may rest upon the ground, as shown in Figure 3, and each tunnel is provided with av ramp, as shown at 5. The side walls of the tunnels may be provided with windows 6, as may be desired. Adapted to telescope within certain of the tunnels are extension tunnel members 7. These members take the same form as the main tunnels and are mounted upon wheels 7 adapted to be supported on trackways 8. 'The operation, uses and advantages of the building construction just described are as follows: 7 v

I will 'assumethat a groupjof planes e1. desire to both discharge as well as take aboard passengers and that the planes are illustrated in Figure 1. Each aeroplane approaches the depot under its own power and the pilot directs the plane'to a position tangential to one of the tunnels d. station director for aeroplanes would possibly control the trafiic' 00 ing of planes.

which tunnel he should select. A station attendant would then move the tunnel meniber f outwardly from the tunnel 03 upon the trackway to a position adjacent the fuselage of the aeroplane and at a place where the door is located so that the passengers could leave therefromand pass through the tunnels d and 7 into the concourse, thence through the tunnel a into the main station. A similar arrangement would bentilized for the load- Certain of the tunnels, as shown at 9, may be termed baggage tunnels and porters could remove grips and other luggage from the baggage compartment of the fuselage and carry the same upon a suitable truck through the tunnel 9 for deposit in the concourse or in the, main station. Thus, the passengers would be relieved of the necessityof carrying baggage.

It isassumed in the showing of Figurel that the aeroplanes at 10 and 11 are being loaded and after loading, the aeroplanes may takeoff in the manner indicated by the dotted lines at 12. It will thus be seen that each aeroplane in no manner interferes with either .a H following orpreceding aeroplane that is beingloaded or discharged of passengers and baggage. In Figure 11, I have illustrated five aeroplanes in the process of' being loaded and unloaded and the arrangement is such that the pilotscan immediately takeoff or land without interference and quite; rapidly, and further without in any manner endangering the aeroplane or the passengers. Windows may be provided in the wall bounding the concourse so that passengers'may observe the aeroplanes during the loading and unloading thereof Without actually being permitted'on the field. This is necessary because of rapidly moving propellers which are a constant source of danger to passengers. Furthermore, the average aeroplane due to the draft caused by the propeller creates quite a dust and the concourse and the tunnels prevent this dust from directly contacting with the passengers so that one objectionable feature of aeroplane fields is eliminated by this invention and the passengers enter and leave the aeroplane without .in any manner becoming covered 7 wlth dust and dirt.

Any number of tunnels may be provided in accordance with the needs of each air field and the number of aeroplanes landing or.

taking off at given times. The arrangement permits ,an exact schedule to be maintained by the aircraft company. Certain large transport companies are arranging what are known as aerial taxis which will conveyaircraft passengers to agiven airfieldfor transfer-to a transport plane. Thearrangement herein depicted will allow an aerial taxi to land, taxi up to the station, the passengers discharged therefrom' through one of the trance means comprising a depressed, cov-' ered passage-way leading thereto and a plu- 'rali'ty of radially arranged tunnels extending therefrom. v

2. In aircraft station construct on, a central concourse portion, entrancemeansxcomprising a depressed, .covered passage-way leading thereto, and'a plurality of radially arranged tunnel portionsprovided with tel-' escoping members; said telescoping members providing. entrance from the tunnel portions to a vehicle positioned at an angle thereto. e H

3. In aircraft station construction, a central concourse member, entrance 1neanstcomprising a depressed, covered. passage-way leading thereto, and a plurality of radially arranged tunnels extending therefrom, one of said-tunnelshaving a telescoping portion; said telescoping portionproviding an extension from the tunnel to a vehicle to. be loaded or unloaded.

4. In aircraft building construction, a central concourse portion, a main entrance tunnel comprising a depressed, covered passage way leading thereto, anda pluralityof tunnels radially extending from the concourse portion 5. In aircraft building construction, acentral concourse portion, entrance means comprising a depressed, covered passage-way leading thereto, and a plurality of radially arranged tunnel members extending therefrom, alternate tunnel members having telescoping portions; said telescoping portions providing extensions frointhe tunnel members to a vehicle to be loaded or unloaded."

6. In aircraft station construction, a substantially circular central concourse member, main entrance means comprising a depressed, covered passage-way therefor, and a plurality of spaced, radially arranged covered passageways "for ingress and egress to airplanes and wherebya plurality of airplanesmay be positioned tangentiallyto the passageways to permit different angular approach and departure thereof from any passageway without mutual interference.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my. I

name to this specification at Los Angeles,

California,this 15th day of-August, 1929.

' ARCHIE o. ZIMMEBMAN' 

